Real Scenes: Paris

In the return of our documentary series, we visit the French capital.

A few years ago The New York Times and Le Monde were declaring the death of clubbing in Paris. It was a dark moment for a city that has at times stood alongside London, New York and Berlin as one of the capitals of electronic music. With names like Laurent Garnier, Daft Punk and Justice leading the way, Paris has seemingly always been a flashpoint for a unique spin on house and techno.

At the exact moment those articles were being written, however, things were beginning to change. Promoters like Sundae and Concrete experimented with throwing their parties on Sunday, taking advantage of a spot in the city where they don't have to worry about noise restrictions. Die Nacht, meanwhile, has devoted itself to finding unlikely spaces for their events. What's more, partygoers are now finally traveling to the suburbs, beyond the Paris Périphérique—the road that encircles the city—in search of a good time. It's a shift in attitude that has made Paris fun again, and it's why we went there earlier this year to film the latest edition in our Real Scenes series.

Real Scenes is a series of films in which Resident Advisor explores the musical, cultural and creative climate within electronic music's key destinations. We'll look at the role singular figureheads—producers, DJs, promoters—play in making their city's music scene a point of world-wide interest. We'll also look at places, spaces and inspirations, seeking out the essence of what gives these hyper-local scenes a truly global resonance.

Posted by minimobI've been to the parties which the documentary talks about, Concrete and Die Nacht. Sure, the venues are great, it's really well organized, and the line-ups are astounding. But these parties and Paris in general are missing the key ingredient: a good atmosphere. People are really tense there, because they can't manage the pills and booze. You get pushed around ALL THE TIME. Bouncers are really stressed, because the minute you don't watch parisian party-goers it turns into a fucking mess. It's really interesting the the creator of Concrete says his first party was a success because it was "total war". You would never hear from ravers and partiers anywhere else that the party was good because it was "war", "chaos" or "everything fucked up".

You just dont find the kind of people and atmosphere you would in Berlin, for example. People are a lot more rude, they don't give two shit about the idea of partying "together", they want to have the most fun they can for themselves, whatever it takes.

I don't know why it is like that, but whatever the venue, whatever the party, I personnally find that it is always a bit annoying to be partying with the Paris crowd. 5% of people making the party less fun for 95%. My opinion!

Can't agree more, what Paris need is the atmosphere. People here are not really into the music, and I don't know why the french people like clubbing together. Not like in Berlin, you can always see the berliners go clubbing alone, have fun and dance themselves. It feels more like a family, that is why I love Berlin so much..

Real Scenes

To most of us, a police ban on dancing sounds like the stuff of dystopian nightmares, but in the latest episode of our flagship documentary series we see how this is a reality for people in the Japanese capital.